The Novacastrian will race for ART Grand Prix after swapping from Spanish operation Campos Racing last season.
Mansell finished 12th in last year’s championship with a best result of second in the Feature race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
He picked up the ‘Best Comeback of the Year’ gong for that performance after storming through the field from 23rd in difficult conditions.
During the off-season, Mansell took in a part-programme in the Formula Regional Oceania, winning in Manfield and taking three second places from his six starts in the competition.
He then jetted back to Europe to begin preparations for the coming year.
“It’s very, very important for me, obviously, to try and get as high on the grid as I possibly can finish p 12,” Mansell admitted when Speedcafe asked about the importance of 2024.
Secure your spot today.
“My overall goal is to be at the top, everyone’s goal is that, but realistically I think it’s just trying to maximise the absolute best performance out of the ART car and myself.
“Whether that be first or whether that be third or wherever I finish, as long as I’ve got the maximum out of the car, then I can leave here, or every single round happy.”
Mansell’s new home, ART Grand Prix, is a French squad that has enjoyed success stretching back two decades.
It was founded by now-Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur and Nicolas Todt, son of former Ferrari team boss, and FIA president Jean Todt.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton scored their GP2 Series wins for ART, while Pastor Maldonado and Stoffel Vandoorne also won that competition.
It’s had success at F3 level too, with Hamilton, Paul Di Resta, Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Jules Bianchi, and Valtteri Bottas all progressing through the operation in the Formula 3 Euro Series.
Success has been more difficult to come by in recent seasons, though it has delivered race wins for Theo Pourchaire, Frederik Vesti, and Victor Martins.
“The two cars couldn’t be more opposite if they tried in some aspects,” Mansell said of the ART he’ll race this season versus the Campos he campaigned in 2023.
“There’s definitely the fact that you know, Spanish, French, they operate differently and getting used to the way that they run things to how Campos run things – neither for the worse or better, it’s just different.
“I think that was just the biggest part of changing teams,” he added.
“It’s a bit of a stressful time because you don’t know how different it’s going to be, you’re trying to anticipate the changes and how to drive the car, new engineer, meeting new people, and new expectations going into the team as well.
“ART has a track record of being a very, very quick team and hoping to keep it that way, but it’s been a good adjusting period.”
Mansell’s 2024 season gets underway today in Bahrain, where the Formula 3 championship supports the Formula 1 season opener.
F3 opening practice begins at 10:55 local time, with qualifying following F1’s own opening hour of track action at 16:00 (midnight AEDT).
Discussion about this post